D.C. plane crash pilot identified as Brooklyn native Jonathan Campos

CBS News

31-01-2025

NEW YORK — At least two crew members on American Airlines 5342, which crashed in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night, had ties to New York City.
The pilot of American Airlines 5342 has been identified as Jonathan Campos, 34, and a flight attendant has been identified as Danasia Brown Elder. Both were raised in Brooklyn before moving down south.
Campos "wanted to be a pilot from the time he was a little boy," ex-fiancée says
Campos dreamt of flying planes since he was a kid, according to longtime friends.
He was raised in southern Brooklyn and attended John Dewey High School, according to ex-fiancée Nicole Suissa, who says they were high school sweethearts. She remembers him as a bright and ambitious student with a taste for adventure.
"He's being publicized for how he died. But really, this was the boy who taught me how to live. He was good at it," Suissa told CBS News New York reporter Hannah Kliger.
She says they met freshman year and remained friends more than a decade after their breakup. He moved to Florida shortly after his high school graduation.
"He wanted to be a pilot from the time he was a little boy. I wanted to be a lawyer from the time I was a little girl. And we made good on it," she recalled.
Suissa has fond memories of his love of racing and his "need for speed."
"He started racing motorcycles. He rides horses, is part of an equestrian club down in Florida where he lived. He was a helicopter pilot. He had his commercial license," she said, adding that he also loved to sky dive and scuba dive.
Former teachers remember Campos as "a great kid"
Lane Rosen is a retired high school teacher, and taught Campos biology at Dewey nearly two decades ago.
"I remember him from taking every science class that the school had to offer. I believe he took seven science classes in three or four years," he said.
Rosen recalls coordinating to meet up with Campos in Orlando, years later, on a trip to Disney World.
"He drove all the way from Ormond Beach, took me and my family out for drinks and dinner, and we had a wonderful time," he said.
Campos also left an impression on another teacher, Jennifer Rubinfeld, who saw a post about him on Facebook.
"He had the same face. As soon as I saw his name and his face, my heart just dropped," she said as she realized he was in her class the first year of her career, 22 years ago.
She shared a photo of the two of them at I.S. 303 in Coney Island.
"He worked so hard, he wanted to be successful academically, he was always so respectful and polite. He would always ask how you were and he cared, he was just such a great kid," she said.
Wife, mother of 2 killed in D.C. plane crash
Danasia Brown Elder has also been identified as one of the flight attendants on board.
Her friends and family say she grew up on the western end of Coney Island and moved to North Carolina after her mother died.
Three loved ones who are part of a large but tight-knit group of extended family and friends say they're devastated to learn of the death of the wife and mother of two.